The present invention is directed generally to novel systems and methods for performing sputter deposition, and to optical devices manufactured using such systems and methods.
Existing optical filtering systems use a collection of thin film filters to demultiplex multiple optical channels on a single fiber. In such devices, a plurality of filters are separately manufactured and then later arranged on a single substrate, or they are deposited individually on a single substrate with a sequence of masking and deposition operations to create each filter. Each filter is designed to pass a single wavelength channel. Those channels that are not passed through the first filter are reflected toward the next filter which is designed to pass a single channel which is different from the single channel that passes through the first filter. Those channels that are not passed through the second filter are reflected in a similar manner and either pass through or are reflected by each subsequent filter. Existing optical multiplexers work similarly, but the optical signals flow in an opposite direction. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the execution of this process for making such devices is complicated by the fact that each filter is manufactured separately, thereby requiring precise alignment of each separate filter on the substrate during deposition or at a later stage in packaging, in order to ensure proper operation of the device. The present invention discloses novel optical filters and multiplexers, and methods for performing optical filtering and optical multiplexing that represent simplified and more reliably, processes when compared to existing systems and methods.
The present invention is directed to an optical demultiplexer and a method for separating an input optical signal into a plurality of channels by wavelength. A first plurality of optical structures are formed simultaneously using vapor deposition on different regions of a first common substrate. Each optical structure in the first plurality is comprised of a plurality of thin-film layers. The thickness of each layer in a given optical structure in the first plurality is associated with one of the channels. A reflector has a surface parallel to a surface of the first common substrate, and a transport region is disposed between the first plurality of optical structures and the reflector. At least one aperture is disposed at one end of the transport region, and the first plurality of optical structures are disposed along a length of the transport region. Output optical signals associated with different ones of the channels are generated at separate positions along the length of the transport region when the input optical signal is provided to the at least one aperture.
The present invention is further directed to an optical multiplexer that combines a plurality of input optical signals differing in wavelength to form a combined signal at an output aperture. The optical multiplexer comprises a first plurality of optical structures formed simultaneously on different regions of a first common substrate using vapor deposition, each optical structure in the first plurality is composed of a plurality of thin-film layers. The thickness of each layer in a given optical structure in the first plurality is associated with one of a plurality of different optical channels. A reflector has a surface parallel to a surface of the first common substrate, and a transport region is positioned between the first plurality of optical structures and the reflector. At least one output aperture is disposed at one end of the transport region, and the first plurality of optical structures are disposed along a length of the transport region. When the input optical signals are respectively provided to the plurality of optical structures at the separate positions, a plurality of filtered signals each one of which corresponds to one of the different optical channels are merged in the transport region to form the combined signal which is outputted from the multiplexer through the at least one output aperture.